If you’re a writer yourself reading this, you’ll feel like I’m oh so relatable but here are my thoughts on writer’s block.
To me, writer’s block is surely the most frustrating thing I can encounter. It doesn’t only concern my stories, but also my blog posts. If you haven’t noticed, I suck at posting. And no, it’s not because I’m lazy but rather because I have no idea what to write about that hasn’t already been done way too many times. Now you’ll be like: writer’s block is literally the most common subject a writer can talk about. And that is true. You’ll soon learn I don’t make much sense.
Nonetheless, I still wanted to talk about it. After writing I Was A Bitch, I wondered what I could imagine next, what my next story would be and if it would be as fun to write as that one. I kept waiting for inspiration to come back just like it always does but months passed and… nothing. I opened new word documents and typed ideas but they would never develop into much more than two pages.
So I waited.
Being an author is not my job, which means I don’t have to write. I don’t have to turn in chapters. But I still felt like I had to put a new story out for my Wattpad readers who were waiting for one.
And that feeling of need to write doesn’t work for me. Inspiration comes when I don’t expect it, it always has for the stories I wrote and I should have realized it sooner. Nevertheless, it took me months and finally, in November (which came about perfectly for Nanowrimo), I finally typed something new.
The idea came to me after watching a stupid movie one night. The woman had divorced her husband and it wasn’t relevant to the story that much but I started thinking: how did the couple get here if they were in love before. And so finally, FINALLY, I had an idea.
(By the way, if you want to know what this idea turned into, check out my new story on Wattpad called How Did We Get Here. Yup, I’m shamelessly self promoting.)
This idea blossomed and I ended up writing the entire short story in just a week. Inspiration came back when I expected it the less, and also when I had exams but I overlooked that.
So what’s the point of this post?
I don’t know. I just wanted to say that if you’re stuck on writer’s block right now, it’s alright. Just remember you don’t have to write, you can just do it for fun, because you love it. If you work better under pressure, deactivate your internet, open your word page or get your notebook and set goals for yourself of what you need to write for the day. It doesn’t work for me but every writer has its methods.
Also, watch movies, read books, listen to music. Get inspired by other people’s works.
So good luck to you if you’re a fellow author with the oh-so-dreaded writer’s block but don’t worry, inspiration always comes back one way or another.
Happy reading and good luck for everyone participating in Nanowrimo!
Emily